With our Fit Generation program, we've been thrilled to participate in the national conversation about nutrition and physical activity that First Lady Michelle Obama helped to launch with her Let's Move! campaign, designed to solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. As obesity rates in America have tripled over the past three decades, and now nearly one in three American kids are overweight or obese, we're thrilled Mrs. Obama and her inspiring biceps took this on.

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Kids Helping Haiti

Following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti in mid-January, we've been impressed by how involved kids have been in helping to raise money to help victims of the earthquake. From a hot chocolate stand in Puyallup, WA that raised a couple of hundred dollars to an elementary school fundraiser in Tucson, AZ that raised more than a $1,000 (by promising that school staff would kiss a frog for $500, a pig for $1,000, or a llama for $1,000!), to a 7-year-old boy in London who raised over £190,000 by getting sponsored to ride his bike around a local park. Little kids really can make a big difference; anyone else tearing up?

As part of the health care reform bill passed by Congress in March, breastfeeding moms will be guaranteed a reasonable break time to express milk somewhere "other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public." Although there are plenty of limits to this, including not getting paid for time spent expressing milk and an exemption for companies of fewer than 50 employees if this right would "impose an undue hardship," it is progress nonetheless, and hopefully will help women like Angela Ames, a mom of two who quit her job after she was denied access to a place to pump breast milk for her newborn preemie son.

In news that should help to soothe at least some of the nagging worries of working parents, a study led by the Columbia University School of Social Work recently concluded that infants of working mothers are no worse off than those of stay-at-home moms, despite past studies that found the opposite to be true. Phew!

With hundreds of recalls a year, alerting parents to potentially dangerous cribs, strollers, high chairs, infant formula, car seats, OTC medicines, and candy, it's hard not to wonder just what items in our homes are truly safe at this point. May's huge kid meds recall especially threw us for a loop; raise your hand if you'd recently given your kid Children's Tylenol when you heard it was recalled (yeah, us too). We're starting to wonder how so many of these flawed products make it into the stores in the first place.

Mom Sends Adopted Son Back to Russia Alone

While we'll certainly admit to wishing to be temporarily kid-free at select moments (say, smack in the middle of a day full o' tantrums), we've never actually meant it -- let alone taken action to make that happen. Not so with Torry Hansen, a mom in Tennessee who sent her 7-year-old adopted son back to Russia, alone on a plane, accompanied by a note saying that she no longer wanted him, that he had severe psychological problems, and that the orphanage had lied about his condition. While Hansen explained that the child had started fires and threatened to burn down the house, her decision to dump the child she had committed to rearing was downright cruel and inexcusable.

Also displaying not-so-sportsman-like conduct were the Little League parents who sued the manufacturer of an aluminum baseball bat used in a game where their kid got hit in the head, ultimately suffering permanent hearing loss in one ear. While their son's hearing loss is unfortunate, it seems logical that sports-related injuries are a (remote) possibility when one is, er, playing a sport.

Whooping Cough Epidemic

Filed under "Preventable Tragedies" is the outbreak of a whooping cough (pertussis) epidemic in California and major outbreaks in other states like Ohio and Michigan, due to declining immunization rates. In California alone, there were more than 7,200 cases of the highly contagious illness (spread by coughs and sneezes) reported in 2010, including ten infant deaths. DTaP vaccination is the best defense against whooping cough, including booster vaccines for adolescents and adults. Although vaccination isn't a guarantee of immunity, the boosters are especially important as the efficacy of infant vaccinations wanes with age, and older children and adults can easily pass on pertussis to infants, who are not old enough to immunized and in whom it can be deadly.

Moms Get Judgy About Nursing

We've all heard the refrain "Breast Is Best!" drummed into our mommy brains and are clear on the importance of breastfeeding. But we also recognize that for some moms, breastfeeding is an insurmountable hurdle for a variety of reasons, or -- dare we say it -- something that just doesn't feel right for them. So, while we firmly believe that nursing mothers should have greater legal protection in the workplace and just about everywhere else, we also recognize that it's not anyone else's job to make a mom feel like she's doing a bad job (most moms are expert at making themselves feel like crap, thankyouverymuch). So, to all of the on-their-high-horse women (and men) out there who have taken it upon themselves to say that breastfeeding for six months should be required by law (thanks for that brilliant nugget, Gisele!) or that Old Navy should be boycotted for producing a "formula-powered" onesie, we suggest that parenting your own kids is vastly more important (and appropriate) than policing anyone else's parenting choices.

Chain-Smoking Toddler

Seriously? We were shocked at the story of chain-smoking Indonesian toddler Aldi Rizal, who at one point had a whopping four-pack-a-day habit. After a video of him chain-smoking quickly went viral, the local government stepped in, and Aldi kicked the habit during five weeks of intensive treatment with the National Commission for Child Protection. Sadly, there are plenty of other young kids who remain addicted, as Indonesia has one of the worst problems with child smokers in the world. According to government estimates, 25 percent of kids over the age of 3 have tried cigarettes and 3 percent have a regular habit.

Mel Gibson's Anger Unleashed

Not all relationships end well, even -- or maybe, especially -- when a child is involved. But actor Mel Gibson seems to have upped the dysfunction quotient a few levels during several hate- and expletive-filled rants (complete transcripts here) to his baby mama and former girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, during their custody battle over daughter Lucia. Domestic violence charges against the actor are also being investigated, and the pair continues to battle in court. What a dad.

Dirty Diaper Road Rage

In a new parenting low, a dirty diaper was used as a weapon in an incident of road rage this summer, as two women got into a dispute while leaving a county fair in Pennsylvania this summer. Twenty-three-year-old Jessica Hollis reportedly initially threw a dirty diaper at the vehicle of Melanie Campbell, a 36-year-old mom with her 12-year-old twins in back. When the diaper fell short of Campbell's car, Hollis got out of her car and smeared the contents of the diaper across the back window of Campbell's car. Harris was charged with harassment; we'd like to charge her with assault with a poopy diaper.

Parents Behaving Badly on Facebook

Facebook doesn't always bring out the best in us -- but in this case we're not talking about oversharing adorable photos of our kids; instead, we'll take you from the stupid to the truly horrific. Earlier this year, a 19-year-old Florida mom used Facebook to post a photo of her 11-month-old baby "smoking" out of a bong; subsequently, the Florida Department of Children and Families launched an investigation into her parenting skills. A Michigan mom, Jennifer Petkov, used Facebook to taunt a dying 7-year-old neighbor girl, Kathleen Edward, because she was upset that the girl's grandmother hadn't responded quickly to a text from her. Petkov admitted to posting photos of Kathleen's mother, Laura Edward, who died last year at age 24 from the same degenerative brain disorder, Huntington's Disease, that afflicts Kathleen, in the arms of the Grim Reaper, as well as a picture of Kathleen in a coffin, among other heinous acts. And finally, a 22-year-old Florida mom, Alexandra V. Tobias, recently pled guilty to second degree murder for shaking her 3-month-old baby to death in January when his crying interrupted her FarmVille game. It's just a website, people.